Dispenser closure



June 23, 1970 KlsABURo'lNo DISPENSER CLOSURE Filed sept. 5, 1968ATTORNEY United States Patent O 3,516,536 DISPENSER CLOSURE KisaburoIno, Tokyo-to, `lapan, assignor to Hiroko Ino, Tokyo-to, Japan FiledSept. 5, 1968, Ser. No. 757,694 Claims priority, application Japan, Nov.7, 1967, 42/ 93,511 Int. Cl. B65d 83/ 04 U.S. Cl. 206-42 6 ClaimsABSTRACT F THE DISCLOSURE This invention is related to a dispenserclosure in the form of a bottle cap, through which tablets in the tippedbottle roll out one by one, so that the user can take just as manytablets as he needs. The outer surface of said cap has an outlet sizedenough for one tablet to pass through. Across the inside of the cap is achannel wide enough for tablets to be aligned in it, and a part of saidchannel is connected to said outlet. When a bottle with said cap istipped, tablets enter the channel to be aligned in it and then roll outfrom the outlet one after another in the order of alignment. Whentablets in the tipped bottle rush to the inside of the cap, banks onboth sides of the channel bear the weight of the tablets which have notentered the channel, so that the tablets aligned in the channel are notobstructed by the other tablet in rolling out from the outlet.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a dispenserclosure or cap for closing a container such as a bottle, especially to acap controlling the movement of tablets which are rolling out of abottle.

Generally, in taking tablets out of a capped bottle, a person must firsttake off the cap and then tip the bottle so as to enable tablets to comeout. In this way it is almost impossible to take just the necessarynumber of tablets out of the bottle, even if the bottle be tipped verycarefully. When tablets are used for medicine or food, it is undesirablefrom a sanitary point of View to return extra tablets back into thebottle with the lingers. Actually, however, such an insanitary action isstill repeated without any reilection. Moreover, the smaller the size ofa tablet is, the more difficult it is to make no more tablets thandesired roll out of a tipped bottle. When the tablets are so small as tobe granule, it is impossible.

There is a known idea of a bottle cap with an outlet which is slightlylarger than the size of one tablet, for the purpose of taking tabletsout of a bottle one by one. Such a cap, however, has no means foraligning tablets toward the outlet or for preventing a number of tabletsfrom rushing together to the outlet, from which no tablet can pass away.

Of course, it would be possible to provide a bottle cap with anelaborate system which will enable tablets to roll out from the outletone after another. However, in view of the fact that bottles and capsgenerally are not expensive, the additional system should be simpleenough to be made cheap. Otherwise, it would be of no utility value.Furthermore, a cap with an elaborate system is apt to bring abouttroubles and breakage, when it is used.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is a primary object of this invention toprovide a dispenser closure which will avoid the above disadvantages ofknown caps.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a bottle cap,by means of which tablets can roll out of a bottle exactly one at atime.

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It is the second object of this invention to provide a bottle cap wheretablets are aligned every time when the bottle is tipped, so that theycan roll out of the bottle one after another.

It is the third object of this invention to provide a bottle capenabling aligned tablets to go out from an outlet disposed in it one byone without being obstructed by the other tablets in a tipped bottle.

It is the fourth object of this invention to provide a bottle cap aconstruction of which not only meets all of the above objects but alsois simple enough to make it possible to manufacture caps of this type ata low cost in large quantities, as manufacture of bottles.

Accordingly, the features of this invention are rather in a constructionof the inside of a cap which is to be related to the interior of abottle than in a construction of the outside of the cap. The cap of thisinvention has an outlet sized slightly larger than the size of onetablet. Said outlet forms an exit for tablets. The cap has properthickness, across which a channel is cut, Said channel has a depthgreater than the height of each tablet which rolls into it. In order toplace tablets in alignment, the channel is wide enough to contain asingle row of tablets but too narrow to admit two rows of them. Thischannel is connected to the outlet at one part of it and is open to theinterior of the bottle at the other part of it.

When the above cap is iixed on a bottle and then the bottle is tipped,some of the tablets in the bottle are aligned in the channel and thenroll out from the outlet one by one.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a plan view of an embodiment ofa bottle cap according to this invention;

FIG. 2 is a bottom view of the bottle cap;

FIG. 3 is a sectional elevation along the line III-III of FIG. l andFIG. 2, showing a cover which is opened; and

FIG. 4 is a sectional elevation along the line IV-IV of FIG. 1 and FIG.2.

DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT A cap 10 mainly consists of anouter wall 111, a sidewall 17 and a thick part 13 of the inside of thecap 10. If the outer wall 11 and the sidewall 17 are shaped by pressinga at metallic plate, the thick part 13 may be xed on the inside of thecap 10 with screw clamps or aggl'utinant. An outlet 12 bored in theouter wall 11 is preferably positioned on one side of the wall 11. Inthis embodiment a se'micircular cover 19 for closing said outlet 12 isprovided so as to keep tablets from rolling out in case of a bottlerfalling down unexpectedly. Said cover 19 also serves to isolate tabletsin the bottle from moisture of the air. However, if tablets are notbadly influenced by the outer air the cover 19 is not always necessary.The part 13 of the inside of the cap 10 and the sidewall 17 are `formedwith a space 18 between themselves. Said space 18 is provided for abottle neck to enter. However, if the cap is inserted into a bottleneck, that is, a sidewall 17 of the cap fits an inside wall of a bottleneck, said sidewall and a part corresponding to the part 13 may beformed in one. A channel 14 is formed diametrically across the part 13and has the outlet 12 on one side. Said channel 14 is slightly widerthan a tablet T so that it can contain a row of tablets but cannot admittwo rows. The depth of the channel 14 is a little greater than thediameter of the tablet T so that the tablet T may not project higherthan banks `16 on both sides of the channel 14. In order to smooth themovement of tablets into the channel 14 and secure a certain number oftablets in the channel 14, it is preferable to pare off the sharp edgesof the banks 16 to provide round edges 15. The round edges 15 areimportant to accomplish the objects of this invention without fail. Thecover 19 is swingingly mounted on the outer surface 11 at a straightline 20 corresponding to its inner edge. The cover 19 has a tab 21projecting toward the rim of the outer wall 11. As shown in FIG. 3, saidtab 21 can be pushed up with the fingers so that the cover 19 may beraised up. On the back of the cover 19 is a projecting part 22 which isas large as the outlet 12. When the cover 19 is pushed down, saidprojecting part 22 ts into the outlet 12 to close it tight.

When the cap 10 having the screw threaded sidewall 17 is screwed on abottle 24, tablets as many as needed are removed from the interior 23 ofthe bottle 24 in the following process. As soon as the bottle 24 istipped, all the tablets in its interior 23 rush to the part 13 but onlya certain number of them can enter the channel 14. As tablets roll intothe channel 14, they are aligned too deep in the channel 14 to beobstructed by the load of the other tablets from going out through theoutlet 12 one after another.

What is claimed is:

1. A dispenser closure to be connected to a container for dispensingtherefrom tablets of a given size and configuration, said dispenserclosure comprising an outer wall having opposed outer and inner surfacesand formed with a bore extending through said outer wall and having asize and configuration only large enough for one tablet to pass throughsaid bore at one time, and a part fixed to said outer wall at said innersurface thereof and projecting inwardly from said inner surface througha depth greater than the largest transverse dimension of a tablet, saidpart being formed with a channel extending transversely across said partand completely through the latter up to said inner surface where saidchannel cornmunicates with said bore, said part being adapted to bereceived into the mouth of a container provided with the dispenserclosure so that the channel will communicate with the interior of thecontainer to receive tablets therefrom when the container is inverted,said channel having a width only slightly greater than the thickness ofa tablet and a depth greater than the largest transverse dimension of atablet so that only one row of tablets can become located in saidchannel at one time -for movement from said row one by one out throughsaid bore.

2. The combination of claim 1 and wherein said bore is situated at theregion of one end of said channel.

3. The combination of claim 2 and wherein said part has a pair of innerside surfaces directed toward each other to define said channel and saidside surfaces being convexly curved at the region of said part distantfrom said outer wall and longitudinally of said channel to provide thelatter with a cross section which flares at the end of the channeldirected toward the interior of the container for facilitating movementof tablets into the channel.

4. The combination of claim 1 and wherein a cover is carried by saidwall at the outer surface thereof for releasably covering said bore.

5. The combination of claim 1 and wherein said outer wall extendsradially beyond said part, and a sidewall xed to and projecting from theouter periphery of said outer wall and defining with said part anannular space adapted to receive a container wall at the mouth thereof.

6. The combination of Claim 5 and wherein said sidewall is threaded tobe threaded onto the exterior threaded surface of a container at themouth thereof.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,746,006 2/1930 Metzger 229-172,886,208 5/1959 Sinclair 221-288 2,448,099 8/1948 Kassovic 221-312WILLIAM T. DIXSON, JR., Primary Examiner US. Cl. XJR. 221-312

